Footwear splash guard



July 12, 1949.

H. W, STROH FOOTWEAR SPLASH GUARD Filed Aug.'l9, 1947 lI4 0M NOW..."

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Patented July 12, 1949 FOOTWEAR' SPLASH GUARD Hairold Wi. Stroh; Kitchenem. tintario, Canada,

assigner tm The B. Goodrich Gompany, New;

Kork,4 E., a conporationror, Newf York.

Application August 19, 1947; Serial No. 769,501,

(Cl.,36.---70)y This invention'l relates` to. a splash guardi membei' for footwear` andi isparticularly concerned with` asplash guard@ mem-ber' adapted? todirect the fiowf of!- mudi andz Waterdischargedi from. the forwardlinnercornerof the heel` faceoff'an. article offfcotwear;

AI` person- Walking on a wet or muddysurface is` frequentlyI troubledi' by indiscriminate splashing offmudf and'l'water onthe legs andanklesdue to water adheringf to thev heel face when the heel is lifted fromthex wet surface, which Water is then thrown: over on theY oppcsiteilegf off the person walking' due tol the` upward and.' forward! motion ofthe-heell.

number of constructions have been proposed t'oovercome this problem; gene-rallyby directing the'- flow. off Water on* :the face of' the heel. Wal'per'in U1' S. Patents Nos; 234-9216;; 23805349,"` and@ 2,395,597 providesmeans for.` directing they flow of.`r water-from the` heel'v face either forwardly`- against the solel of. theY article of? footweary bpy meansof a, forwardly; extendingv tongue member or( in a directed: stream'.z off; the. norm-al forward innerV corner' of: the. heel face.A Dunbroolr.r in? Patient No. m4539002 provides means; for'channelsing-swatch o the@ breast; of the' heel; and; the f'orward innen comen the; heel byf a construction in which a; tearedropvshapd forward: inner, com ner portion of; the-.heel face-is,sena-ratied.1 from. the

remainder thereon-bua aenerallyarcuatechannet i extending from thef inneredgefof theheelto: thel bri-:Yastthereof'.3

'Bhe constructions; adapted: to, discharge water;` oft` the normal, for-ward edgey ot the heety or the;

normaleorwardsinnencorner thereot providemotectiony against splashing; in; many' cases Somepersons howeven'. duel toi certain peculiarities: in walkingg, are'not. protected entirely by; such cone structions.

It is, therefore; an, obiect ot this:y invention to provide a. splash; guardE adapted to,i be used in combination with ai heel fonan, article, of; foot-- wear by meansoi which. Water; beingv discharged. from the; forwardA inner corner( efe the heel proper on the. breast of, the, heelfadjacent the inner; edgeJ thereof (i.,e., the-edge adiacentthe other footofl thewearer). is prevented from. splashiney on. the oppositeV lea ofv the.l` person.v walking., Other ob..- jectsnvill be, apparent. from the description which folows.

I' have; discovered thatav suitable Asplash-preventing, constnuction.. comprisesy a heel; for an, article oftootwear, having, a splash guard, secured. to the breastlof.. the lfieell adjacent., the.. inner edge, theneoi, the,- euardextending downthe, breast, oi

2: the heel with the lowenpant proj actingL below.' the.- heel face/- andi extendingl laterallyr from a, region` near the center of the breast' of the! heel: to a.

point beyondi the innerfedgeof the heel infront ofl the forward inner corner` of the: heel facetA Such a constructioneffectiuely' prevents sp1asl'1:v ing while-ewallsingjwhen the splash, guard isused; incombination with: a ccnventional4 heel', and: pan-l ti'oul'arly when usedin. combina-tionA with a heele having rneansffor'y directingl water cf the normal? forward! edgaoff the heel! face-including the for@K Wardlinner corner-thereon;

The invention is'best described, with reference tothe accompanyingzdrawings of'a preferrediem.- bcdiment thereofa @fthedrawi'ngrstA Eig; 1' is a: perspective viewoff a rubber overa shoeincluding a heelf having-l ay wateredirecting" surface and a splash guard for the heel;

Fig.y Zfis a plan-vi'ew of the bottomfoffthe overshoe shcwnin Fig. 1;-

Eig; 3 isa fragmentary viewl taken on line: 31-32 of Fig. 1';

Fig: 4 is a plan viewof a conventional' heelt provided withi a splash giuardf embodying# the in.. vention and Fig: 5'- is a section: onliner 51-5i ofIFig; 3.

Inthe preferred embodimentl of theinvention asshown in Fig. 1 and Eig. 2, a rubber over--I shoe lhaving aL raised'I shank Ifl is provided with a heel I2 having a splash-.guardi lf3 secured" tothe breast Iii cf the heeladiacent the inner edge l5 thereof.

VThe tread surface I-llwhi'ch formstheJ face off the heel hasy a forwardJ inner corner portion I1 thereof separated from the remainder of the tread'by a channel I85 extendingfrom the innerr edge I5 of the heel ta the breast |14 thereof'. The channel I8 is preferably generally arcuate so as to isolate a tear-dropshapedf portion of the tread. Channel l@ serves to direct water from the heel facel oir' the forwardi edge oft the heel*- with-a parir ofthe water being castA offf" the tip of'l the tearedrop shaped' cornerportion.

To prevent the watery from being thrown over on the opposite leg; splash guardi |31 is positioned on the breast t4' of the heel",extendingY across the endl of channel I8 Where the, channel converges with the breast of' the heel; Splash guard |3 .which is formedl of av resilient material, prefer-V ably rubber cr rubberelike material, extends'r downwardly along the, breast and projects, a short, distance belpw the heel face, preferably eX- tendiner ifs!" to 1/8'," below the plane of the heel, faceL with thelower edge of the, guard generally4 l parallel to the plane of the heel face. Guard I3 extends laterally beyond the inner edge I of the heel with at least a lower portion extending in front of the forward inner corner of the heel face. Preferably, the inner end of guard I3 slants downwardly away from the inner edge of the heel so that the top inner corner of the guard lies in the plane of the inner edge of the heel with the bottom inner corner extending preferably lAg to 1A beyond the plane of the inner edge.

The lower portion of guard I3 across the extent thereof preferably is beveled or undercut so as to slant downwardly away from the breast of the heel from a point on the breast above the bed of channel I8. In the preferred embodiment, the forward face 2I of guard I3 converges with the breast of the heel along the top edge of the guard and slants downwardly and forwardly from the breast to converge with the beveled lower portion at a feather edge which forms the lower edge of the guard.

In walking, the water which is picked up by the heel face is directed ofi the forward edge of the heel. That portion of the water which leaves the heel adjacent the inner edge or at the inner corner is thrown against the splash guard and is either deflected downwardly from the heel or is deposited on the ground when the heel again touches the walking surface. Since the guard extends beyond the inner edge of the heel, it prevents splashing due to water which might be cast in an inward path from the corner rather than forwardly as would normally be expected. The construction thus provides protection even for those persons whose peculiarities in walking render a conventional water-directing heel useless.

The invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to a particular overshoe in which the heel is provided with a particular means for directing the path of the Water from the heel face. The splash guard may be used, however, in combination with a conventional heel as shown in Fig. 4; or with any other heel for an article of footwear having means for directing the path of water so as to cast it from the forward edge of the heel including the forward inner corner thereof. Furthermore, the invention may be embodied in any article of footwear having a raised shank and a heel therefor. It is not intended that the invention shall be limited to the particular embodiment described in detail and it will be understood that variations and modifications may be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a heel for an article of footwear, a resilient splash guard member overlying and secured to an area of the breast of said heel adjacent the inner edge thereof, said member extending downwardly beyond the plane of the heel face with at least a lower portion of said member projecting laterally inwardly beyond the inner edge of said heel, the lower portion of said member being beveled downwardly away from the breast of the heel, said guard member presenting an unbroken face to the forward edge of the heel face and spaced therefrom.

2. In combination with a heel for an article of footwear, a resilient splash guard member secured along the breast of the heel adjacent the inner edge thereof, said member extending downwardly beyond the lower edge of the breast of the heel with the lower edge of said member generally parallel to the plane of the heel face, the inner end of said member being slanted downwardly away from the plane of the inner edge of the heel so that said member extends in front of the forward inner corner of the heel, and the lower portion of said guard member being beveled downwardly away from thevbreast of the heel across the transverse extent of said guard member, said guard member presenting an unbroken face to the forward edge of the heel face and spaced therefrom.

3. In combination with a heel for an article of footwear, a resilient splash guard member secured along the breast of the heel adjacent the inner edge thereof and extending downwardly beyond the lower edge of the breast of the heel with the lower edge of said member generally parallel to the plane of the heel face, the forward face of said guard member slanting forwardly and downwardly from the breast of said heel to the lower edge of said member, the lower portion of said guard member across the transverse extent thereof being beveled outwardly and downwardly away from the breast of the heel and intersecting with said forward face of the member along a feather edge, the end of said guard member adjacent the inner edge of the heel slanting downwardly and outwardly beyond said heel edge so that the guard member extends in front of the forward inner corner of the heel, said guard member presenting an unbroken face to the forward edge of the heel face and spaced therefrom.

4. In combination with a heel for an article of footwear having means for directing water off the forward edge of the heel face, a resilient splash guard member secured to the breast of said heel adjacent the inner edge thereof and extending downwardly below the heel face with at least a lower portion of said member extending beyond the inner edge of the heel in front of the forward inner corner of the heel face, the lower portion of said member across the transverse extent thereof being beveled downwardly away from the breast of the heel, said guard member presenting an unbroken face to the forward edge of the heel face and spaced therefrom.

5. In combination with a heel for an article of footwear comprising a tread member having a channel extending from the inner edge of the heel to the breast thereof across the forward inner corner portion of said tread member, a resilient splash guard member secured to the breast of the heel in advance of said channel and extending downwardly below the lower edge of the breast of the heel and laterally in front of the forward inner corner of the tread member, the lower portion of said guard member across the extent thereof being beveled downwardly away from the breast of the heel, said guard member presenting an unbroken face to the forward edge of the heel face and spaced therefrom.

6. In combination with a heel for an article of footwear comprising a tread member having a generally arcuate channel separating a forward inner corner portion of the tread member from the remainder thereof, a resilient splash guard member secured to the breast of the heel extending in advance of the channel and projecting beyond the inner edge of the heel in front of the forward inner corner of the tread member, the lower portion of said guard member across the extent thereof being beveled downwardly away from the breast of the heel, said guard member presenting an unbroken face to the forward edge of the heel face and spaced therefrom.

'7. Article of footwear including a raised shank, a heel having means for directing water off the forward edge of the heel face, and a resilient splash guard member secured to the breast of the heel adjacent the inner edge thereof, said splash guard member being generally flattened and extending downwardly with the lower portion of the member projecting below the heel face with the lower edge generally parallel to the plane of the heel face, at least the lower portion of one end of said guard member projecting beyond the inner edge of the heel in front of the forward inner corner of the heel face, the lower portion of said member being undercut across the extent thereof to slope downwardly away from the breast of the heel, said guard member presenting an unbroken face to the forward edge of the heel face and spaced therefrom.

8. In combination with a heel for an article of footwear, a resilient splash guard member secured along the breast of the heel adjacent the inner edge thereof, said member comprising a generally flattened wedge-like element having the rear face of the upper portion thereof secured to the breast of the heel in face-to-face abutting relation, the lower portion of said element being beveled across the transverse extent thereof with the rear face slanting outwardly and downwardly away from the breast of the heel and terminating downwardly in a feather edge, said member extending laterally beyond the inner edge of the heel and having the lower edge thereof below and generally parallel to the face of the heel, said member presenting an unbroken face 'to the forward edge of the heel face and spaced therefrom.

HAROLD W. STROH.

Name Date Noilin Mar. 4, 1945 Number 

